The Ocean Master: A Legend of Termina
by Omega Speed
Summary: Fifteen years after Majora's Mask, a young man gains the power of the oceans. Together with his friends who wield similar powers, they embark on a quest to save Termina from a shady cult.
1. The Beginning

The Ocean Master: A Legend of Termina

By: Omega Speed

**Author's Note**: I am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or have any legal ownership of The Legend of Zelda.

I recommend that you stay away from this story if you are either under fifteen years or if your mind is completely shut to some things.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

A lady of about twenty-five was crawling onto shore in Great Bay. She didn't have much time left. She was pregnant and went into labor in a storm near Pinnacle Rock. Soon after, the storm destroyed the ship and her husband was dead and the woman knew she was soon going to die too.

When she was drifting on a piece of wood from the destroyed ship, a male Zora found her and carried her to safety. She insisted that she be the one to crawl onto shore herself. The Zora let her and she made it. The lady kindly asked the Zora. "What is your name?"

The Zora replied to her. "Japas. I am the bass player for the Indigo-Go's."

The lady smiled at him and asked him, "Will you please help me deliver my baby, Japas?"

Japas looked at the woman and saw that she was pregnant and with the way the storm wrecked the ship, she wasn't going to survive. "I will do my best." He said.

The delivery took only about thirty minutes, and when it was over, Japas handed the baby boy to his mother.

"He is such a beautiful boy." said the new mother. "Given the place he was born, I know what to name him." She said. "I am going to name him Gill. Japas, will you take care of my child and keep him safe?" She said, struggling to say those words.

"I will protect him with my life." He said. "I will treat him as if he were my own. I promise you that."

She kindly looked at her son and uttered her last words. "Thank you." She then turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. The kind lady then went into eternal sleep.

Japas went over to where Mikau's grave was and made a wooden marker. On that marker, there were just a few words. [i]Here lies a kind woman and a loving mother.[/i] Japas then took the baby boy named Gill to his new home in Zora Hall.

Over the next sixteen years, Gill became a member of the Zoras. He joyfully played games with the other Zoras and had a natural talent for the fishbone guitar. The Indigo-GoGo's decided that he would be the new guitarist for the band.

Gill was always popular because he was human, yet he could do many things like a Zora. Sure, he wasn't fast enough to have a swim race, and he didn't have weapons on his arms like the others, but he could already beat professional human swimmers and always took gold in human fighting tournaments.

There was only one group of Zoras that he wasn't popular with. These were the Zora elders. They did not like how Japas took Gill in and treated him like a Zora. They especially did not like the fact that Gill was hanging around the other Zora children. They sought any possibility of removing him from their home and Japas didn't like that.

One evening, while Gill was asleep, an elder snuck into his room and took him to the main chamber. He tied a rope that was weighted with a rock and proceeded to drop him into the water. Japas was awake when he heard a scream from the main chamber. He went out and saw that elder, who's name was Jako, drop him into the water. Japas quickly dove into the water and severed the rope with his fin and brought Gill to shore. Then he got into a fist fight with Jako and soon, it was clear that Japas won. Jako was punished for trying to kill Gill and he was taken to an underwater jail near Pinnacle Rock. That is how much the elders hated Gill.

Another thing Gill was gifted at was making weapons. He made all sorts of weapons in his room. He made several boomerangs, tonfa, and swords. One day, he decided on a project that involved the structure of a Zora fin. When he was finished, he had a pair of metal fins that were collapsible. He then decided to show Japas what he had made when he stumbled on Japas having another argument with the elders about Gill. They said that it was time for him to leave Zora Hall for good.

"He will only leave if he wants to." said Japas. "I do not believe he wants to leave, either."

Loral, the head elder, replied, "It doesn't matter. He is old enough now. He is an adult."

Gill interrupted the elders so he could show Japas the fins he had made. "Look what I made, Japas! This is my latest project!" Gill exclaimed.

The Japas and the elders looked and saw what they were. "You made weapons in Zora Hall?!" said Loral. "This is against the law! Gill, you need to go to the main chamber right now! We will deal with you!"

The elders handcuffed him and took him onto the stage. "Get a stool here, this instant!" Loral said.

A Zora came in with a stool and put it down. "Sit!" Loral demanded.

Gill sat on the stool and told two of the elders to watch him. He then went to everyone's door and knocked and told them there was an emergency meeting in the main chamber. When everyone got there, Loral went to the microphone and said, "We have a problem. The human, Gill, has made these!"

He showed everyone the fins. "These are weapons that the human made in the likeness of us! The law is that no one shall make weapons in Zora Hall! The punishment for such a crime is banishment!"

Everyone gasped as Loral said this. "The human, Gill, is no longer welcome in Zora Hall! Get out of our home, human!" Loral took the cuffs off of Gill and he told him, "If you ever come back here, I will bring Jako out of prison and have him kill you!"

Gill ran out of Zora Hall and swam to the shore of Great Bay and found his mother's grave. He then took a knife he had hidden and put it to his neck. "Mother, the elders have banished me from Zora Hall for making weapons. I was just putting my talents to use. If I cannot do that, then I have no reason to live."

He then went to cut his throat and someone stopped him. "Just what do you think you are doing?" Japas said.

"What does it look like?" Gill replied. "I am trying to kill myself."

"You know this isn't something your mother would want to see from heaven." Japas said. "She wants you to become stronger. You need to calm down and meditate."

"What do you mean?" Gill asked.

"Meditation can calm even the most savage heart." he replied. "If you ever need to calm down, meditation is key." Japas calmly said.

"I promise I will learn to meditate and I will also find someone to teach me how to fight. I can help keep the monsters away from Zora Hall and one day, they will see the reason why they are safe." Gill declared.

"Then I will find someone to teach you. I have a friend who lives nearby. You can stay with him." Japas said.

They headed to the south part of Great Bay, where Japas said his friend lives. When they got to the area where his friend lived, Japas pointed to a cave. They walked into the cave and they saw it was well furnished on the inside with several chairs, a coffee table, a few books on fighting and magic, and a set of candles. When Gill looked around, he saw that the cave had several other rooms. There was a dining room for when there were guests, there were several bedrooms, a king- sized bathroom, and the most excellent kitchen anyone has ever seen. Japas headed over to an office-like room and he spoke to someone sitting in a chair, reading a book.

"Hey, Michael." Japas said.

"Hey, you old fish-head, where have you been!?" the man called Michael said. "I wasn't expecting you to drop by after so long."

Michael saw Gill and looked at Japas. "Is this Gill?" he asked.

Gill stepped forward and shook his hand. "Yessir, I am Gill." he replied.

"Well, it is certainly a pleasure to meet you. I am Master Michael, the only human alive that has learned Zora-kai, the highest Zora martial art, though I don't mean to brag."

"Michael is going to teach you Zora-kai. You wanted to learn how to fight better and now is your chance. Zora-kai has three basic points to it. Hand-to-hand combat, magic, and a clear mind are the three things must be in perfect balance in order to properly master Zora-kai. I will be back every month to see how you are progressing. Hopefully, you will be able to master Zora-kai within two years." Japas said.

"Take good care of my son, Michael." Japas then left the cave to go back to Zora Hall and left Gill to train with Michael.


	2. The Prophecy

Chapter 2: The Prophecy

Over the course of several months, Gill's day was like this: In the morning, he would meditate on the previous day and remember the lessons he had learned. After an hour of that meditation, he would get dressed into his training clothes. He would then wash his hands and get ready for breakfast, which usually consisted of oatmeal, eggs, bacon, and pancakes. After that, Gill and Michael went outside to train. This lasted until noon, at which time Michael made sandwiches. Then Michael let Gill work on some of the things he liked to do for about four hours. Gill spent his time wisely by working in a forge he made for about two hours. After he did that, he spent about an hour inside reading some of Michael's books. For his remaining time, he practiced his guitar. After that, he spent the rest of the day training. At six 'o clock, it was time for dinner. At seven, he read more of Michael's books. At eight, he got a bath, and slept in the tub for an hour. At nine, he meditated on the day and remembered the lessons he had learned again for the usual hour. At ten, he went to bed. The routine that he had developed worked just fine for him too.

One day, while Gill and Michael were eating breakfast, Japas stopped by. "I am truly sorry, but this is not a courtesy visit. I am going to need Gill today." He said.

"Why's that?" Michael asked. "I hope that it's not anything serious."

"Well, it seems the Gerudo are causing trouble again and we need to teach them a small lesson, so I am pretty sure Gill has learned enough to help us out today." Japas explained.

"It's not just me teaching him that will help. Gill has been working in his forge on a project. He has improved on his fins." Michael said. "Gill, you told me that your fins will be ready today, right?"

"I just need to attach the armbands to them and infuse the magic necessary for them to work." Gill said.

"Well, hadn't you better get it done?" Michael asked.

"I will do it right away." he replied. Gill then ran off to his forge to complete his fins.

Japas went to sit where Gill was just a minute before and looked at Michael. "I was browsing through the Library of Zora Hall the other day when I came upon a startling piece of information." Japas said.

"What kind of information?" Michael asked.

"It's a prophecy." Japas explained. "It said that one day, a human that was also a Zora would save Great Bay from destruction by the women of the sea. The prophecy also said that this human that was also a Zora would call on the oceans to help him achieve his goal. It is my belief that these women of the sea are the Gerudo Pirates and they are starting to become more active."

"What about the part about the human that is also a Zora?" Michael asked. "Does the prophecy give anymore information about him?"

"After you read the entire thing, you will get a better picture of who it may be." Japas said.

Japas handed Michael a book. "This is the copy of the prophecy from the Zora library." he said.

After Michael read it, he nodded his head. "It does make sense. After all, he lived in Zora Hall all of his life." he said. "Are you sure Gill is the one that the prophecy is talking about?"

"It seems to be that way." Japas replied.

"Well, it looks like I need to teach him more then." Michael calmly got up and went to the entrance to the cave. "I need to take him to the Great Fairy tomorrow and have her bestow upon him the powers."

"I need to tell you why we need him today. We have challenged the Gerudo to a battle. Japas said. "What they do not know, though, is that the battle is a diversion in order for Gill and myself to sneak into the Pirate's Fortress and investigate some things."

"What exactly are you talking about?" Michael asked.

"We believe that the pirates have made a ship. This ship is not just built better, it is more advanced as well. We have had reports of a giant, metal mast on the other side of the fortress wall and some have sighted metal tubes underwater. We have yet to know what purpose they serve. All I know at this point that the Gerudo are planning something big and we may be in the middle of it."

"Well, that is reason enough to give them one hell of a fight." Michael said. "Come. I think we need to check on Gill's progress."

Michael and Japas went over to Gill's forge and went inside. Gill was finished with his fins and was now testing them out. Each time Gill moved his arm quickly, what was just a large armband sprouted a metal fin. Gill swung his arm and the fin spun towards the wall and hit the bulls-eye on a target he had set up. Gill repeated the same movement with some variation over and over again until Japas shouted "Hey! Don't you think you had better save it for the Gerudo today?"

Gill turned around and saw Japas standing there. "You know, I think you are missing something." Japas said.

"What do you mean?" Gill replied.

"The clothes you have on right now do not look like they belong to a warrior." Japas said. "Here. Try these on."

Japas handed Gill a set of black clothes and Gill went to the bathroom in the forge to try them on. When Gill stepped out, he was clad in head to toe in a black, ninja-like outfit. The only thing on the outfit that was different was there were blue highlights on the outfit.

"Hey, I think I like this." Gill said.

He started to do a few backflips and found that they were easy to move in. Not only that, Gill felt power in himself. He went to the target on the wall and started to meditate. After about a minute of that, he punched the wall. What happened next shocked them all. Gill had put his whole arm through the wall like it was nothing. Gill then activated the fin on that arm and pulled it out with ease.

"What kind of magic does this suit have?" Gill asked.

"None." Japas said "The power you feel comes from yourself. You have a destiny, Gill. You have heard of the story of the Ocean Master, right?"

"The savior of Great Bay? Sure." Gill replied. "It's the story of the human that will save the ocean from an evil force, right?"

"It's not just a story, Gill." Japas explained. "It is a prophecy. You are the person who has fulfilled the qualifications the prophecy gives to the one that will be called the Ocean Master. It is also the time that the evil that is bent on controlling the sea is going to try to take control. Gill, you are the Ocean Master."

Gill looked at Japas in a weird way. "If I am the Ocean Master, why can I not control the seas?" Gill skeptically asked. "I know that the Ocean Master has the power to control them.

"It is because you have not gained that power yet." Japas explained. "Some suffering must come first."

"I don't know what kind of joke you are pulling on me, but I don't really like it at all." Gill said. "Besides, I have suffered in my life already, so I should have my powers now, right?

"Just come with me today and forget about this for now." Japas asked. "I need your help to get inside of the Pirate's Fortress."

"Okay, first you tell me that I am the Ocean Master, and then you ask me to go on a suicide mission? I don't think I can handle that, Japas." Gill angrily said. "Ask me to do this when I actually become a Zora, like the prophecy says I am supposed to and then tell me to go on this mission."

"But don't you see, Gill? You are a Zora. You just haven't seen it yet." Japas said. "I just want you to prove me right. Fight with me today and show me what you have learned."

"Okay, I will. But, do not call me the Ocean Master until I decide I want to be called that." Gill ordered.

"I will respect that." Japas said. The two of them then started to walk toward the ocean. "Oh, I forgot. You need to wear this."

Japas handed Gill a cloth ninja-like mask. "You are still banished. If the elders see you, they will keep their promise about Jako."

Gill put on the mask and Japas dove into the water.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Japas asked.

Gill then dove into the water and followed Japas to the north part of Great Bay, where the Pirate's Fortress laid.


	3. The Fortress

Chapter 3: The Fortress

When Gill got to an island about halfway between Zora Hall and the Pirate's Fortress, he saw something that surprised him. On the island, there were about three hundred Zoras in battle gear, one hundred of them able to use magic. Gill then turned toward Japas and said "If you have this many Zoras ready to fight, then why am I needed?"

"Right, I didn't tell you, did I?" Japas said. "While these Zora are fighting the enemy on the front lines, we are going to sneak into the fortress and see what they are planning."

"Just what exactly are we looking for here?" Gill asked.

"People have seen a giant, metal mast on the other side of the wall that hides the fortress." Japas explained. "We are going to get as much information as we can on the ship that it belongs to."

"While we are screwing around inside of the fortress, who is leading this little army to battle?" Gill asked.

"I am." Evan, the leader of the Indigo-GoGo's stepped forward, shaking from nervousness. "Even though I am not going to be in the battle directly, I am going to coordinate the troops. Is this our secret weapon, Japas?" Evan asked.

"Sure is. Evan, I would like you to meet the Ocean Master." Japas said with a smile on his face. "Japas, I told you not to call me that." Gill said. "It really makes me uneasy."

"The Ocean Master, eh?" Evan said. "I thought the Ocean Master was supposed to be a Zora."

"You forgot that the prophecy prophecy says that the Ocean Master would be a human who is also a Zora." Japas said. "This human was raised as a Zora and he was treated like one too."

"Why am I thinking that I know the person under that mask?" Evan asked. "Japas, if the elders find out that Gill is helping us in this battle, they will hunt him down and probably us too."

"That is why they will not find out yet." Japas replied. "Gill, are you ready?"

"Just say the word." Gill said.

"The people will know that the Ocean master has arrived when we win this battle." Evan said.

Gill gave an exasperated look toward Evan. "Didn't I just say not to call me the Ocean Master?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to call you? It's not like I can call you Gill, the human who was banished from Zora Hall a few months ago." Evan told him.

"Just call me Fin for now." Gill said. "They won't be able to tell the difference."

"Alright, Fin. Look toward the north." Evan said.

Gill looked and saw a horrible sight. "Isn't that the pirate fleet?"

"Sure is. You need to get over to the entrance to the fortress quick." Evan ordered. "Do not draw attention to yourself and try to back Japas up."

"Aye, sir." Gill said saluting. "Don't do that, Fin. That only makes me more nervous." Evan said.

"It is just a little vengeance on the Ocean Master thing." Gill said.

He swam to the underwater entrance of the fortress as fast as he could go, making sure that none of the pirates on the boats saw him. When he got to the spot where the boards that covered the underwater entrance was, he saw Japas waiting for him.

"I was wondering when you were planning to get here." Japas said. "We need to get in, now."

A few minutes after waiting, the solid, metal wall that blocked Pirate's Fortress from the outside world opened up and sent out five of the tube-like objects. They then submerged underwater and started to head toward the Zora army.

"Gill, I need you to go in without me." Japas said. "I need to warn the army about the incoming objects."

Japas then sped away towards the island where the army was waiting. Gil went underwater making sure to hold his breath like he was taught. With the near expertise of a Zora swimmer, he swam through the gate and easily found his way to the inside of the outer wall of the fortress. He saw there were less boats patrolling than usual. He sat there for a few minutes looking at each boat's route. When he found an opening, he did not take it immediately. He waited and tried to see if it would reappear. When it was time for it to show up again, it did and Gill dove into the water as fast as he could. Luckily, none of the pirates saw him. He sank to the bottom of the water and walked to the area where the switch that stops the water from flowing through the underwater entrance. He found it and made sure that no Gerudo were watching him. When he saw that there were none, he used all of his strength to hit it. As luck would have it, none of his strength had left him since this morning and the switch went down and the water flow stopped. He then went back into the water and swam to the entrance. When he felt something bite his leg, he turned around and saw that there was a Skullfish attached to his leg. Without even thinking, he activated his fins and hit it. He than swam as fast as he could through the entrance, making sure to avoid the mines and made his way to the room with the telescope and waited for Japas to get there.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, Japas opened the door to the room where Gill was and he climbed the ladder.

"Well, it's about time you got here." Gill said. "I was about to go into the fortress on my own."

"And now you don't need to." Japas replied. "Let's look through the telescope first."

They looked through the telescope and saw that the fortress had a makeover. The area was now wider with more buildings, including a beautiful mansion-like home. "That is probably where Aveil lives nowadays." Japas said. "There is even a dock in there now."

Gill looked and he did see a dock where ships came in, but that is not all he saw. Resting in that dock was the biggest ship any of them had ever seen. It was made of metal and it had cannons everywhere. There was also a place where the crew could control all of the functions without exposing themselves. It was a one ship fleet.

"We need to go over there first." Japas said. "I have a couple of grappling hooks that we can use to get on board."

"We may need a diversion to keep them away." Gill said.

"It is not necessary." Japas told him. "They think that their fortress is impregnable."

"But it's not impregnable." Gill said

"They don't need to know that." Japas chuckled. "Let's go. We need to find out what that ship is going to be used for."

"We obviously know what it is going to be used for." Gill said. "They are going to use it to take out Zora Hall so they can rule Great Bay."

"Well, we might as well try to get some schematics of the ship while we are here, then." Japas said

They headed to the door to go out into the fortress. When Japas opened it, he saw a group of Gerudo marching past and he quickly shut the door. The Gerudo did not even notice and continued past them and went up to the ship and got on.

"That was close." Japas said. "We need to be more careful."

"Right." Gill said. "We need to split up and climb on both sides. Then, we can make our way to the bridge of the ship and look around."

"I have an Advanced Pictobox. We can use it to get pictures of the bridge." Japas said.

"Advanced Pictobox?" Gill asked. "What is that?"

"It is a smaller version of the Pictobox." Japas explained. "It can hold twenty pictures."

"Oh." Gill said. "In that case, we need to see if we can find some of the pirate's plans. That way, we can take pictures of them."

"Good idea." Japas complimented.

They then split up and climbed onto the ship. There were hardly any guards on board, but where there were some, Gill and Japas easily avoided them. They quickly made their way towards the bridge and went in. The bridge was completely devoid of any life. Gill and Japas took that as a good omen. They went through the room and saw all of the controls of the ship. Luckily, there were several ship manuals laying around, so they took two to spare the film in the Pictobox. They were still looking around when they heard the door open. They quickly hid and two Gerudo Pirates came into the room.

"We need to get down to the engine room and see what needs to be fixed." one of them said. "There is something defective before the big launch?" The other said. "Why does that not surprise me?"

The two of them headed down some stairs and Japas said "Once again, that was close. We had probably head over to Aveil's house and see if we can find any plans."

The two of them quickly went out of the bridge and jumped overboard into the water. They then swam toward the dock and hid under it and waited for another group of Gerudo Pirates to get on. They headed over to the house that Aveil lived and snuck in through a window that was open. They climbed through and they found themselves in an office. "Aren't we just lucky today?" Japas laughed.

"For every piece of good luck we have, we will have an equal amount of bad luck." Gill said.

"What makes you so sure?" Japas asked.

"Well, if your day has been going bad, something good will happen eventually and if your day was good, something bad will happen." Gill replied. "It's a balance of nature."

"We need to get done before out luck runs out then." Japas said.

They looked around and found a book that said [i]Top Secret: Do not open under any circumstances.[/i] They opened it and found that there was an explanation for why the Gerudo Fortress had a new look and new toys. They were being financed by a secret organization known as Majora's Fury.

"I think that this may be relevant." Japas said. "Look, there are some pages that are highlighted."

They took pictures of every page that had highlights and saw that many of them were.

"We will not have enough film for all of this." Gill said.

"I have several more cartridges of film. If we can get this done quickly, we can get out of here." Japas replied.

They finished taking pictures and started to go through the house. They easily found the front door and stopped. Japas then stuck a gem on each of their items.

"What's that for?" Gill asked.

"These gems will send everything that we have acquired back to Michael's cave." Japas explained. "We cannot risk getting any of this wet."

They then went out the front door and went to the door where they came into the fortress.

"Stop right there!" Someone shouted. Gill and Japas turned around and saw a dozen guards pointing swords at them.

"Aw, shit." Japas mumbled. "I think you were right about the whole luck thing."

"Don't move!" said the guard that had caught them. "You don't think you are going to leave without visiting us, do you?"

"Actually, since we have met up, I guess that we could have a friendly chat, and by that I mean I'm going to kick your ass." Gill said.

"Bring it, kid!" the guard shouted.

The fight broke out in the blink of an eye. The Gerudo had her sword out and was swinging it as Gill and he was blocking with his fins. Just as soon as she dropped her guard on accident, Gill kicked her in the jaw. She just went back a couple of inches and she was ready to fight again.

It went on for about five minutes before another guard picked up a bow an aimed it at Gill's back.

"Gill!" Japas shouted.

Gill could't hear Japas and the guard drew back the bowstring.

"Gill!!!" Japas shouted. Gill was still oblivious to the fact that Japas was warning him and the guard let loose the arrow aimed at Gill's heart.

Japas watched and quickly jumped in front of the arrow. It struck him in the heart and Gill heard him that time, only it was too late. Japas was on the ground, dying. Gill suddenly screamed in anger. He went into a serious Zora-kai stance and shouted "Zora-kai! Wave Dance!"

He started to cartwheel at about twenty miles an hour and mowed down the guards. They didn't have a chance and before they knew what had hit them, they were dead.

"Japas!" Gill shouted as he ran to where he was laying. Japas was struggling to breathe as he tried to sit up. "Don't, you'll only make the wound worse."

"There is nothing that can make my condition worse now." Japas said. "There is another part of the prophecy that not many people know. It says that the Ocean Master will awaken when the Zora that helped bring him into the world died."

"But I'm not the Ocean Master, so there is no reason for you to die." Gill half-heartedly said.

"Yes you are, you just wait and see." Japas said.

"Don't go, Japas." Gill said. He started to cry and held the dying Zora close to his arms.

"I will never leave you." he replied. "I will always be there."

Gill started crying harder when Japas went limp in his arms.

"They are going to pay for what they did to you." Gill said.


	4. The Denial

Chapter 4: The Denial

Gill heaved Japas onto his shoulders and left the Pirate's Fortress. Crying on the way, he headed over to Mikau's and his mother's graves and he got a nearby shovel. He dug out Japas' grave and placed him inside. He then got a stone and chiseled out the following words: [i]Here lies a friend, father, warrior, and musician, Japas.[/i] It took him about two hours to do this, and when he got finished, he placed it on the ground at the head of Japas' grave and he put the dirt back into it.

Just when he was about to leave, Gill saw someone come onto shore. When he came closer, he noticed that the person was Evan.

"We got the photos and the manual." Evan said. "With those, we can make some pretty good plans."

Gill just stood silent and looked at Japas' grave.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Gill asked.

Gill pointed to the chiseled rock at the head of the grave. Evan read it and nodded.

"I see, it was truly supposed to be this way." he said. "I expected this, but not this soon."

"He could have warned me." Gill said. "I could have changed it."

"Nothing you could have done would have stopped it." Evan replied.

"I'm not the Ocean Master, so just stop bugging me!" Gill shouted.

"You have yet to see it, but you are. You just need time to realize that." Evan said.

"By the way, how did the battle turn out?" Gill asked.

Evan paused and looked to the ground, not wanting to tell Gill what happened.

"Evan, how did the battle turn out?" Gill inquired more forcefully.

"Well, out of the three hundred that went into battle, only fifty came out alive." Evan reluctantly answered.

"You won?" Gill asked.

"No, we retreated." Evan said. "They were too strong for us."

"Thanks to Japas saying that I was the Ocean Master, he had the Zoras pick a fight they could not have won." Gill said. "I wonder if it was really worth the effort."

"You forgot that you got us some valuable information from that fortress." Evan told him.

"True, but I don't think that I will be any part of it for a while." Gill said.

"Fine. I will see you when you change your mind." Evan said.

And with that, Evan left Gill to pay his last respects to Japas and he visited his mother for a while too.

When Gill got back to Michael's cave, he told him the story about what happened that day at the Pirate's Fortress. When Michael finished listening to Gill's story, he could see that Gill was not exactly ready to take on the role of the Ocean Master yet, so he left him to his training once again.

For the next few months, Gill was training harder than he ever realized. When Michael asked if he was trying to make himself stronger to fit the role of Ocean Master, he just told him that he felt that he needed to train a little harder and make sure that nothing like that ever happened again. He also tried to act normal during the day, practicing Zora-kai and working on his projects in his forge, but when it came evening, he just got something to eat and went to his room.

One evening, Michael got curious as to what Gill was doing in his room, when he cracked the door open and he saw Gill looking at a picture of Japas with his bass guitar and he was crying. He decided that it was not really any of his business to know Gill's feelings at the moment, himself having to deal with Japas' death.

The next day, Gill decided that he was going to take a trip to Clocktown. It was a month before the Carnival of Time, so Michael let him go, hoping that he would have enough fun to take his mind off of Japas. What Gill was really doing was trying to get a business started in Clocktown selling some of the things he made in his forge. He set up an outdoor shop where he could sleep, work, and sell over in North Clocktown. At first sales were slow, but when people saw how good the tools that Gill made, they came back and bought more. Soon, word got around about Gill's workshop where he could make anyone just about anything they would ever need and he was soon working nonstop.

One day, a girl just a little older than he was came over to his workshop and placed an order for him to make a sword. Gill looked at her and saw that she had the prettiest red hair that he had ever seen. She had a bow and a quiver of arrows with her.

"Hi." Gill said. "Now what kind of girl needs a sword?"

"A girl that needs it to fight some monsters." she said.

"I think I know what I need to do." Gill said. "I tell you what, I will make you the strongest, lightest sword you have ever seen free of charge."

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "How often do you make things for free?"

"This would be the first." Gill replied.

"Then I thank you." she said. "When will it be ready?"

"On the morning of the carnival." He replied. "Three days."

"That would be splendid." she replied. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Gill said.

"_I would do anything for you."_ Gill thought to himself.

"_Wow! That guy is so nice! Too bad I can't go out with him, though."_ thought the girl. _"I have to attend to things at the ranch."_

All Gill could think about for the rest of the day was the girl who wanted the sword. He intended to keep his promise to her and he was thinking on adding some magic to the sword as well. He had never done this for any of his customers, but there was something about that girl that made him think that she really needed it. The next two days, he worked on the girl's sword without rest. He decided to use the same metal he used to make his fins, which he brought along with him from his forge in Great Bay. With every strike from his hammer to the metal, he sent a surge of magic to the weapon. He also made the sword blade retractable, just like his fins. He finished it off with a hilt that he had modified to become a knife when the sword blade was retracted. To anyone else, it would look like a normal knife until the sword was activated. It was the perfect gift for the red-haired girl.

On the morning of the carnival, a group of women came by the workshop. They wore clothes like the people of Clocktown, but there was something that was not quite right. When the leader spoke, she said "Hey kid, can you make swords?"

Gill noticed their accent and he realized that they were Gerudo Pirates. Memories started to resurface and he started to breathe slowly.

"I'm sorry, but I am out of metal right now." he told them. "Give me a few minutes and I will go buy some."

"We will be waiting." the leader said.

"I will be back soon." he said.

Gill went to his little room where he slept and got one of his bags. In it, was his black and blue suit given to him by Japas and the fins he had made as well as the sword-knife he made for the red-haired girl. He quickly got a bag of rupees and left his workshop to go look for her. He got to North Clocktown and he saw that there several Gerudo roaming around. He avoided them easily and made his way to East Clocktown, going to the Stock Pot Inn. He guessed that the red-haired girl was staying there while she was in Clocktown, so it seemed to him that it was the first logical place to look.

Gill went in and Anju greeted him. "Hello sir, may I help you?"

"Yes, have you seen a red-haired girl around my age staying here?" Gill asked.

"Yes, she just came back in a hurry." Anju said. "I don't know why though."

"Do you know what room she is staying in?" Gill asked.

"Yes, Room 5. Do you want me to show you the way?" she inquired.

"I think I can find it myself, but thank you." Gill replied.

"If you need me, I will help." Anju said.

"Thanks." Gill replied.

Gill went down the hall and found Room 5 and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" the red-haired girl asked.

"Gill, the one who you asked to make the sword." he replied.

She opened the door and ushered him in quickly. She had a serious face on and she had a garment laid out. It was a black outfit with white highlights that kind of looked like Gill's. She quickly asked him to sit down.

"What's wrong?" Gill asked.

"There is something I did not tell you before." she said.

"Was it your name?" Gill asked. "Mine's Gill."

"It's Romani, but that's not what I wanted to tell you." she said.

"Wow, that's a nice name." Gill said.

"The point is, I am one of five warriors from an ancient prophecy who are supposed to stop an evil force from taking over Termina." Romani said.

Gill thought for a moment and figured that she was related to the Ocean Master somehow.

"What does this prophecy name you as?" he asked.

"I am called the Time Master." she replied.

"How exactly did you find this out?" Gill asked.

"The part of the ancient prophecy pertaining to me stated that a hero from another world will help the Time Master fend off evil creatures that aimed to take away something precious to her." she explained.

"And what happened?" Gill asked. "What does this have to do with you?"

"My sister doesn't believe me, but evil creatures came to our ranch, Romani Ranch, and tried to take our cows, but a friend that I made earlier that day helped me stop them. I found out before he left Termina that he came from a parallel world." she replied.

"I brought you your sword." Gill said. "I hope it will help."

"It will, because I am going to use it today." Romani replied.

"Why?" Gill asked.

"Because there are Gerudo Pirates here and they need to be stopped." she said. "They are trying to take Clocktown under siege."

"That is why I wanted to come here today." Gill replied. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to help me stop them."

"You are a warrior too?" she asked.

"I was told by a Zora that raised me, Japas of the Indigo Go-Go's, that I am a hero that is supposed to save the Zoras." Gill replied. "He told me that I am the Ocean Master."

"The human that is also a Zora?" Romani asked. "The one that can control the ocean?"

"That is what he said." he replied.

"It fits, but you must only have found out recently or you are in denial." she said.

"I am not in denial because I am not the Ocean Master." Gill said. "Being in denial means that you are saying something about yourself that is contrary to what is true."

"Well, there is one way for us to find out if you are the Ocean Master." Romani said.

"How exactly is that?" Gill asked.

"We need to see the Great Fairy." she replied.

So they got dressed in their respective Time and Ocean Master outfits and quickly evaded all of the guards and went back to North Clocktown to see the Great Fairy of Magic.


	5. The Great Fairy

Chapter 5: The Great Fairy

They left Romani's room in the Stock Pot Inn, took the roof exit and stealthily made their way to the Great Fairy's Fountain in North Clocktown. Romani and Gill went in and she said to what seemed to be no one "Great Fairy, I have come."

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" came a voice out of nowhere. When the voice quit laughing, a beautiful lady dressed in vines appeared before them.

"Hello." she said. "I am the Great Fairy of Magic. And you must be the Time Master."

"Hello, Great Fairy." Romani replied. "My name is Romani."

"Well, Romani, you have indeed proven yourself to be worthy of holding the power of the Time Master, however, our young Ocean Master here needs to accept his responsibility." she said.

"I am the Ocean Master then?" Gill asked.

"You always knew you were the Ocean Master." the Great Fairy replied. "You were just in denial."

"I tried to tell him that he was." Romani said.

"You did a very good thing to tell him that." the Great Fairy replied. "So, do you accept your role as the Ocean Master?"

"I do." Gill replied.

"Then I will send you to my sister in Great Bay." she said. "She will give you the power of the ocean."

"I am ready." Gill said.

As soon as he said this, there was a flash of white light and he was inside another Great Fairy's Fountain.

"Great Fairy, I have come." Gill said.

"I know you have, my sister told me everything." she said.

"I am ready to take on my responsibility as the Ocean Master." Gill told her.

"Well, I was wondering when you would say that." the Great Fairy said.

A blue beam of light descended upon Gill and he could feel the power flowing through him. He felt incredibly powerful, like there was a storm brewing inside of him. The beam of light disappeared and the Great Fairy told him "I want you to try to control some of the water in my fountain to see how powerful you are."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Gill asked.

"You weren't taught Zora-kai for nothing." she replied. "Try to do some movements with your hand."

Gill took his hand and he gathered magic into it. When he was ready, he lifted his arm and a pillar of water rose from the base of the fountain.

"Now try to control it." the Great Fairy said.

He took all of the water into his control and made a whirlpool in the air. When the whirlpool was spinning rapidly, he froze it from the base up. When the freezing caused the unfrozen water to move up, he just kept on freezing it and it made a nice frozen flower-like block of ice. He then melted it and looked at the Great Fairy.

"Well done!" she said. "I can only expect the most from the Ocean Master."

"Thank you." Gill said.

"I think that you have business to attend to." the Great Fairy said.

"That I do." Gill replied.

In a flash of white light, he was back in the Great Fairy's Fountain in North Clocktown.

"Well, how did it go?" Romani asked.

"I am the Ocean Master." Gill said.

"And I am the Time Master." Romani replied.

"We have a job to do." Gill said.

"Indeed." Romani replied.

They left the Great Fairy's Fountain and jumped right to the middle of North Clocktown. By now, the Gerudo were getting impatient and decided to torture a little boy with a blowgun.

"Hey, leave me alone!" the boy shouted.

"Why?" asked the leader. "We just want to have some fun!"

She took away the boy's blowgun and broke it. She laughed as she threw it to the side.

"Aveil, why don't we hold him for ransom?" asked one of the pirates.

"Why that is a good idea!" Aveil said. "Take him to the Laundry Pool with the rest of the people who tried to stop us."

Romani looked at Gill and whispered "It looks like there are more people captured."

"We need to rescue them and take out these pirates." Gill whispered back.

They walked over to the group of pirates and Gill stepped forward.

"Hey." he said. "I never thought that the lowest of the low could actually stoop lower."

"Hey! It's the kid from the fortress!" one of the pirates said. "Get him!"

A group of the pirates came at Gill, but he flipped into the air and activated his fins. When he came back down, he drove the fins into two of the pirates' chests, causing them to fall over dead. Romani activated her sword and jumped into the battle. She swung her sword once and three of the Gerudo fell over dead. Another group charged at them and they dispatched them with ease as well.

"Kid, who are you?" Aveil asked.

"I am the Ocean Master and you are not welcome here." Gill replied.

"The Ocean Master, huh?" Aveil said. "Why don't you prove it."

"The human body is seventy percent water." Gill replied. "I could freeze you in a heartbeat."

"Ha ha!" Aveil laughed. "Prove it."

The next thing Aveil felt was very cold temperatures. She started to get scared and she tried to grab her sword, but her arm would not move. She looked at it and it was blue. She touched it with her free hand and it felt cold to the touch. Soon, frost started to form on it. Aveil screamed out in pain and grabbed her sword with her free hand and charged at Gill. Romani stepped in and blocked her attack with her sword. Gill then jumped over Romani and proceeded to kill Aveil when she threw something to the ground. It released a flash of light and she was gone.

"Where did she go!" Gill asked.

Romani shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me!"

Several Gerudo charged at them as soon as she said this.

"Talk later. Fight now." Gill said.

They fought their way through the Gerudo Pirates and they killed every single one of them. North Clocktown was littered with corpses. They went over to the boy with the broken blowgun that the Gerudo were torturing earlier, but he backed away.

"Hey, it's alright." Romani said. "We got rid of the bad guys."

"But you killed them." the boy said.

"They were [i]really[/i] bad guys." Gill replied. "What's your name?"

"I'm Jackie." the boy said. "I'm the leader of the Bombers gang here in Clocktown.

"Nice to meet you, Jackie, but we have to get out of here fast." Romani said. "I know one place where you will be safe."

Gill heaved Jackie up onto his shoulders and they went back through South Clocktown and onto the Stock Pot Inn in East Clocktown and went in through the roof entrance. They quietly went downstairs to keep people from noticing them when they heard the regular entrance door open. A group of Gerudo Pirates came in and jumped behind the counter and grabbed Anju.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

"We need hostages and you might as well be one of them." one of the Gerudo said.

As soon as they heard this, Gill and Romani sprang into action. They took out the pirates in about thirty seconds and they saved Anju.

"Thank you." Anju said. "They were going after my husband."

"Think nothing of it." Gill said.

"We need to get to the Laundry Pool and free the rest of the townsfolk." Romani said.

"Let's go." Gill replied.

They then ran out the front door and went over to South Clocktown. It was completely deserted, save a couple of Gerudo at the entrance of the Laundry Pool. They quickly went over there and dispatched the Gerudo standing guard.

"You ready for this?" Gill asked Romani.

"Definitely." Gill replied.

They went into the Laundry Pool and they saw five pirates armed to the teeth. They were guarding everyone that opposed them, who were tied up and grouped against the wall perpendicular to the Curiosity Shop.

"Hey!" shouted one of the pirates. "Do you want a piece of us too?"

"Sounds good to me." Gill said.

Gill and Romani then jumped for the pirate that spoke. Gill dropped low and gave her a kick in the jaw which sent her flying into the air. Romani then jumped and kicked the Gerudo into the wall with such force, that it killed her. The other four charged at them on all sides. Romani got her sword out and ran one of them through. Unfortunately, she left herself wide open for an attack. The Gerudo closest to her kicked her in the ribs. Romani then went down, but recovered and swung her leg out, causing the pirate to trip. As soon as this happened, Romani snapped the Gerudo's neck. Gill was taking on two of the pirates at the same time. He kicked one of them in the chest and punched the other in the face. He then activated his fins and shot them at the one he kicked in the chest. There was a sound of slicing flesh and that pirate was dead. He then did a side kick on the other pirate, causing her to fall down. He then saw the water flowing through the Laundry Pool and decided to use his new power. He clenched his fist and brought it up. The water quickly rose and Gill brought it over to him. He separated the water into several globules and lengthened them. The Gerudo charged at him and Gill froze the water. Now, there were ice spikes hovering all around him. He directed them to the charging pirate and they all impaled her.

Gill and Romani took a few seconds to catch their breaths and they then went to free the prisoners. Once they were all free, one of them stepped forward and spoke.

"I cannot thank you enough for what you did." he said.

"Just don't let something like this ever happen again." Gill replied.

"I won't." he said. "By the way, have you seen a boy in North Clocktown?"

"Sure have." Romani replied.

"Was he wearing a red cap?" the man asked again.

"Yes." Gill replied.

"Then that would be my son, Jackie." the man replied. "I'm sorry. I never got to introduce myself over my questions. I'm Jimmy. I used to be a Bomber back a few years ago."

"Nice to meet you, Jimmy." Romani replied.

"Thanks for helping." Gill said to Romani.

"It's no problem." she replied. "It is in my job description after all."

"Well, we had better let you get back to your lives." Gill said. "You have a carnival to prepare."

"Lucky we still have plenty of time left." Jimmy said.

"We will be there, but you will not see us." Romani said.

"At least you will be there." Jimmy replied.

Jimmy then lead the other prisoners back to South Clocktown and let them get back to the carnival preparations.

"I will meet you back at the inn later." Gill said. "I need to go to my workshop and change."

"Okay. See you later." Romani replied.


	6. The Carnival of Time

Chapter 6: The Carnival of Time

Gill quickly got dressed into his normal clothes and got ready to go to the Carnival of Time. This particular carnival was the fifteenth anniversary of the near destruction of Termina. He put everything away and he closed up shop. He then went to the Stock Pot Inn and saw that Romani was already waiting. She was dressed in leggings and a white tunic. Her red hair was braided and she had the knife-sword that Gill had made for her in a sheath on her hip.

"What is all of that for?" Gill asked.

"There just happens to be a fighting tournament today in Termina Field. There have at least been three hundred entries. It may go on for a few days." she replied.

"It looks like I need to get ready for that tournament too." Gill said.

"You are not thinking about entering it, do you?" Romani asked.

"You know full well I am going to enter and give it my all." Gill replied. "You wouldn't have told me about it when I asked if you didn't intend for me to enter otherwise."

"Well, be prepared to be in a long line." Romani said.

When they got to the tournament grounds in southern Termina Field, they saw hundreds of humans, Gorons, Zoras, and Deku there watching the spectacle. They saw a kid in a green suit fighting a man three times bigger than he was. The man charged and as Gill started to look away in fear of the kid getting hurt, Romani tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the arena. The kid somehow got his hands on a vine and he was using it to immobilize his opponent. Gill watched as the kid quickly tied him up with the vine. The man started laughing as loud as he could and snapped the vines like they were string. The kid quickly jumped back and started to move his arms about. Gill was wondering what he was doing when vines quickly shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the man. The kid then ran toward the man and he jumped up and kicked the man in the chest. The man flew fifty feet backwards and Gill's jaw dropped.

"That is impossible." he said to Romani.

"No." she answered. "That is Teak."

"What is teak?" Gill replied.

"He is not a what." Romani said. "He is the kid who took out the big guy."

"Oh, Teak." Gill said.

"Do you want to meet him?" Romani asked.

"That kid just took out a guy three times as big as he was." he replied. "Of course I want to meet him."

They went over to the area that Teak and the man were fighting and Romani waved at him. Teak looked and saw Romani and a big smile spread on his face.

"Romani!" Teak shouted. "Come over here and give me a hug!"

Romani and Gill went and Gill saw Romani give the kid a hug.

"Teak, this is Gill." Romani said.

"Gill, huh?" Teak replied. "I'm Teak."

"Hi." Gill said.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" Romani asked Teak.

"I have a tent set up outside the arena." Teak said.

"Let's go." Romani said. "Come on, Gill."

Gill went with Romani and Teak to his tent and they went inside.

"What is this about, Romani?" Teak asked.

"Gill is the Ocean Master." Romani replied. "He helped stop the Gerudo with me in Clocktown today."

"Hey, I heard about that." Teak said. "Since you are the Ocean Master, I must tell you that I am the Swamp Master. I was raised by the Deku and taught many of their secrets."

"I have to say that I am honored to meet the Swamp Master." Gill replied.

"Thank you." Teak said. "Romani, there is some trouble in the Southern Swamp."

"What kind of trouble?" Romani asked.

"The Wolfos are starting to venture from the path to the swamp and they are blockading the Deku Palace." Teak replied.

"Do you think that this is the time for the Swamp Master to save his people?" Romani asked.

"I am sure of it." Teak said. "I also saw some white-robed people riding in boats in the swamp recently too. I am sure that they are helping the Wolfos take over."

"How sure are you?" Romani asked.

"I am sure without any reasonable doubt." Teak replied.

"Give me more information when you can." Romani said. "I will help when I can."

"Thanks, Romani." Teak said.

"Anytime." Romani replied.

"So, what are you doing in Clocktown?" Teak asked Gill.

"I was sort of trying to run from my past." Gill replied. "I was in denial for a while."

"Well, some people just don't like to be the center of attention." Teak said.

"I like attention, I just didn't feel cut out for the job." Gill replied.

"Well, things just happen." Teak said.

"Don't I know it." Gill stated.

"Teak, look at my new sword." Romani said.

Romani showed her sword to Teak and he whistled, admiring the careful craftsmanship that Gill put into it.

"Nice." Teak said. "You found that blacksmith then?"

"Not just me." Romani told him. "You did too."

"What do you mean?" Teak asked.

"Gill made it." Romani replied.

"You made that sword?" Teak said. "Unbelievable. Since you made Romani's sword, I want to talk to you about replacing a staff that was broken."

Gill, interested in the project, asked Teak to tell him more about it.

"Well, it was obviously wooden." he said. "I want you to make a new wooden staff. Deku heartwood would be best. I would also like it to be fire-resistant and I would like for you to make it stronger to resist breakage."

"Easy as pie." Gill said. "I can have it done in no time. A day and a half should do it."

"Thanks." Teak said.

"No problem." Gill replied.

For a few hours, they talked about their lives as they grew up. Gill told them everything, from the moment he was born, to that very day. Teak was born and raised in the Southern Swamp by his aunts, Kotake and Koume. His mother was their sister and they had to raise him after she had died. Romani talked about the pleasant life on the ranch that she got her name from. She talked about how 'they' used to come by every year around the Carnival of Time, until a kid with a fairy helped her drive them off. After that, she never saw them again.

After they told their life stories, they talked about their favorites in life, experiences they have learned lessons from, and other things. They got finished around noon, whey they decided to go enjoy some of the other festivities inside of Clocktown. They had a lot of fun there. Romani had plans to sell some of her horses, so Gill and Teak helped clean them before the auction. Teak, with his superior earth powers, built a house in North Clocktown for themselves and the other masters, people he had yet to meet. He did it because of the convenience of being near his forge. Gill got to work on Teak's staff after he went shopping around the vendors in South Clocktown. He found the best Deku heartwood money could buy, and lucky too, because he definitely could afford it. Gill was not much interested in the festivities and there would be plenty to enjoy over the next week anyways. Since the near disaster fifteen years ago, the inhabitants of Termina decided that they needed longer festivals because life was too short. That evening, they went into their new house and happily went to sleep.


	7. Pun Day

Chapter 7: Pun Day

The next morning, Gill was woken by the sounds of laughter. He got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast when he heard Romani talking to Teak about something. "… and when the woman came to buy the Chateau Romani from Cremia and me, she asked 'Are you trying to milk me out of my money?'" Teak winced at the pun, but Gill burst out laughing.

"You [i]like[/i] puns!?" Teak asked.

"Kind of." Gill replied. "I just thought that one was good."

"What are you talking about?" Romani said. "That one was horrible."

"The bad ones are usually the punniest." Gill replied.

This time, both Teak and Romani winced.

"What?" Gill asked. "Since we were on the subject of punning, I figured I would make one myself."

Romani just went back to her task of slicing the cheese for their breakfast of grilled cheese. All of a sudden, Teak plugged his nose.

"What is that smell?" Teak asked.

"What smell?" Gill replied.

"You can't smell that?" Teak asked. "It smells like Romani cut the cheese."

Gill and Teak surpassed laughing and went to rolling on the floor. Romani went red in the face and grabbed the cork to a big jar and stuck it in Teak's mouth.

"Cork it." Romani said.

Things turned from rolling on the floor to sides are bursting. Teak spat out the cork and made an effort to stand up to grab the pepper off of the table.

"Let's spice things up a bit." Teak said.

He sprinkled the pepper on Romani's nose and she began to sneeze as Gill and Teak were still laughing.

Soon, their laughter died and Romani stopped sneezing. They sat down to eat their breakfast and resisted the urge to make another pun. They ate in silence until Gill got curious as to why they were punning when he came downstairs.

"Fifteen years ago, when the Carnival of Time was expanded into a week, Mayor Dutor had the guards and the carpenters at his house for a party celebrating the world being saved." Romani explained. "One of the guards made a malapropism, an unintentional play on words. Everyone else thought it was a pun and the mayor happens to be a sap for puns, so he made one and everyone else joined in. By the end of the evening, everyone was on the floor clutching their sides from laughter. Since then, the mayor made this day Pun Day. That too was a pun. Ever since, everyone makes puns on the second day of the carnival."

"Wow." Gill said. "It turned into a tradition overnight."

"Exactly." Romani replied. "At first, I hated them with a passion, but when my sister, Cremia, started to pun like crazy all of the time, I grew to like it, but only on Pun Day. Teak had the same attitude I once had, but I see you got him to soften up."

"I guess I did." Gill replied.

"It'll take more than that to make me like puns." Teak said.

"Yeah, like you weren't enjoying yourself when you spiced things up with Romani." Gill told him.

"I did that for your benefit." Teak replied.

"Whatever." Gill said. "I'm going to my forge. I want to open up before everyone gets around."

"See ya." Romani said.

Gill walked over to his forge and set everything up. He made sure that all of his tools were in the proper place, that he had enough denominations of rupees to make change, and enough metal to meet the eccentric demands of the people at the festival. Not long after he set up shop, a customer came to him and asked if he could make a can out of some tin.

"Why do you want a tin can?" Gill asked.

"Well," he said. "A one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine can't but a tin can."

Gill winced at the pun.

"I'll see what I can do." he said.

Gill immediately got some tin out of his scraps and set to work on the can. In about twenty minutes, he had finished shaping the can and it was starting to cool.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Gill asked the stranger.

"I am a scribe, but I am looking for a job here in Clocktown." he replied. "The problem is, I don't think I can right here because I left my paper, quills, and ink at my house in the mountains."

Gill had a confused look on his face for about a minute before he realized that his customer had made another pun.

"You know, you should really try to make the pun obvious." Gill said.

"I thought it was." the stranger replied.

"It probably was obvious if you were talking to another scribe, but I am just a simple smith." Gill said. "I do not know as much about language as you do."

"Well, I see that my tin finally can." the stranger said. "How much do I owe you?"

"Because it was an easy job," Gill said, "You owe me tin rupees."

"How many tin rupees?" the stranger replied.

"Ten tin rupees." Gill told him.

Sure enough, the stranger produced ten tin rupees. Gill saw them and was flabbergasted.

"How the hell does someone carry ten tin rupees with them wherever he goes?" he asked.

The stranger replied, "I don't go anywhere without the proper payment."

Gill just stared at him with amazement. Just who has ten tin rupees anyway?

"I am also looking for someone by the name of Romani." the stranger said. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"You don't have to look any further." Gill replied. "She lives in the house right next to this forge."

"Thank you." the stranger said. "What is your name?"

"Gill." Gill replied. "Yours?"

"Kendall." the stranger replied.

"I hope to see you soon, Kendall." Gill said.

"Likewise." Kendall replied.

And so, Gill's new friend, Kendall, went inside the house to see Romani. Gill kept working at his forge, constantly being greeted by customers with too many puns to keep track of.

At noon, Gill closed shop and went inside for lunch. Romani, Teak, and Kendall were all there waiting on Gill.

"Romani told me that you lived here too." Kendall said.

"She told you right." Gill replied.

"Then you must know that there is one more reason that I am here." Kendall said. "I am the Mountain Master, gifted with the powers of fire."

"It looks like fire and water finally came to a truce today." Gill said.

"Indeed." Kendall replied. "And what a glorious truce that is, too."

Romani brought their food to the table. Fried cucco and salad is just what Gill was hoping for, and to that effect, he dug in.

"Oink." Kendall said.

"Kendall, sush." Romani said. "Let him eat how he wants."

"At that rate, we may be able to have roast pig for supper this evening." Kendall replied.

Gill just ignored him and continued eating. Knowing the relationship between fire and water, if he started arguing, that would get them nowhere fast.

After lunch, the four of them went to enjoy the festivities in South Clocktown until dinner, where Romani did indeed serve roast pig, to Kendall's amusement. After dinner, they went to bed awaiting the insanity that was to come the next day.


	8. Music and Love

Chapter 8: Music and Love

Chapter idea: The Indigo-Go's come to Clocktown to play their new song and Gill joins in on the action. On the side, Romani's feelings blossom for Gill and likewise. This is a filler chapter.

The next morning, Gill was suddenly awoken by Teak, who was shaking him vigorously.

"Gill!" Teak shouted. "Gill! The Indigo-Go's are coming back to Clocktown today!"

Gill was still too sleepy to understand what Teak was saying and he just laid back down and in a matter of seconds, he dozed off again. With a surge of fury, Teak went to the small well by the house and filled up a bucket of water. He then took some ice from the icebox in the kitchen and broke it up with one of Gill's hammers and he put the ice in the bucket. Even though Teak was still a small boy, he did have the strength as the Swamp Master to carry the bucket upstairs to Gill's room. Teak then dumped the bucket of ice water on Gill and he was immediately awake and furious.

"What the hell was that for!?" Gill shouted.

"I tried to wake you up, but after trying to shake you awake, you just went right back to sleep." Teak replied.

"Well, what if I wanted to sleep?" Gill asked.

"You won't be sleeping after you hear the news." Teak said. "The Indigo-Go's are coming to Clocktown and they are going to be playing their new song!"

"What?" Gill said, stunned at what Teak had said. Gill's anger seemed to vanish on the spot. The Indigo-Go's are were of Gill's lifelong friends before he was banished from Zora Hall.

"I know, right?" Teak rhetorically asked. "Everyone has been waiting to hear their new song for months now and they are playing it tonight here in Clocktown."

"Teak, what time are they going to be here?" Gill asked.

"Around seven o'clock to set up their gear and they start playing at nine." Teak replied.

"And what time is it now?" Gill asked.

"Eleven." Teak replied once more. "I had earplugs to keep Kendall's snoring from making it a late night for me, but I see that it kept you up."

Gill suddenly remembered why he wanted to stay in bed. Kendall had been snoring for a couple of hours before Gill had fallen asleep at around four in the morning.

"Well, since it is nearly noon anyway, I might as well get up and prep the forge." Gill said.

"Not until Romani wakes up and cooks breakfast." Teak told him.

"Tell her to take it out to my forge for me." Gill said. "I need to earn our income somehow."

"Take a break today." Teak said. "I have enough fight winnings to keep us going for a year."

"All the same, I find comfort in working in my forge." Gill told him.

"The only people who are working today are those who live off of the income that they make during the carnival." Teak said. "I can handle the money issues for the rest of the week."

"If you insist." Gill said. "But I am going to be at my forge after breakfast to upgrade my fins."

"Alright." Teak said.

They waited for about an hour until Romani woke up and they then ate their breakfast. As soon as Gill was done, he put his plate in the sink, washed his hands, and went out to his forge. His goal today was to get his fins to target moving objects while they were coming back to him. After two hours of work, he was ready to test the upgrades. He donned his blue shirt, blue leggings, black boots, mask, and fins and went out of Clocktown to practice his targeting on Chuchus. When he found it to be successful, he decided to go back into town and change into his everyday clothes.

"There you are." Romani said to Gill. "Where were you?"

"Killing two birds with one stone." Gill replied. "I was testing my upgrades and doing target practice."

"How did the upgrades perform?" she asked.

"As I expected them to." Gill said. "They were right on target."

"Good." Romani replied. "Since I can't find Teak or Kendall and I am busy, I need you to go pick up a block of ice from West Clocktown for me."

"Sure." Gill said.

_"__Oh, I love it when he sweats like that."_ Romani thought. _"I could just drag him into his dirty little forge and make out with him until the concert."_

Romani suddenly thought about what she was thinking and she silently scolded herself. _"What am I thinking?"_ she thought. _"I must be out of my mind!"_

As Gill was walking to West Clocktown, he was having similar thoughts. _"If I could just get her into my forge, we could be making out until the concert instead of having nothing to do. What am I thinking? Shut up, Gill!"_

Gill went into the butcher's shop and bought a block of ice for the icebox and as he was walking home, he started to think again. _If I were to burn myself with a hot iron rod from my forge, could I get her in? What!? Did I just consider that!?_

Back home, Romani was still thinking about Gill. _"Maybe, I will entice him with a little booty action when I put the ice in the icebox. Yeah, he will soak that up."_

Gill finally arrived home and handed the ice to Romani, letting his eyes linger on her for a little bit while she was putting the ice into the icebox. He couldn't help but stare at her backside and he even could have sworn that she was shaking it. Gill immediately dismissed that thought. When Romani went to turn around, he stopped staring and said as he was going out the door, "I'm going to the forge for a little bit to put up my tools."

"Can I come with you?" Romani asked. _"Stupid!"_ she shouted to herself. _"Why don't you just throw yourself at him while you are at it!?"_

Gill's heart skipped a beat as he heard those words. He allowed himself to savor them before saying, "Yeah, sure."

The two of them went out to Gill's workshop and Romani sat down and watched Gill work up a sweat from the still hot forge while he put up his tools. Romani couldn't take her eyes off of Gill and she blushed every time he went to wipe sweat from his forehead. In a few minutes he was done and he sat down beside Romani and closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to make her think that he was just tired. In reality, he was secretly cheering because he found an excuse to sit right by her. Romani nearly jumped in her seat because she was faced with the opportunity to jump on him. They sat there for a few minutes before Romani woke Gill from his similar dreamland.

"Gill," Romani asked. "Could you keep you eyes closed, but face me for a minute?"

Gill obliged and Romani stared at that tempting face and an the inner conflict escalated within her. Eventually, her lustful side beat her controlled side and she moved her face closer to his and she reached his ear and whispered "Pucker up."

Gill immediately opened his eyes and Romani went in for the kill, hugging him and passionately giving him the kiss. Gill was just shocked as she was doing this and when Romani noticed, she stopped.

"Oh, god! What have I done!" she shouted. "Sorry!"

She rushed toward the door of the forge before Gill got up out of his seat and grabbed Romani by the arm and kissed her. Romani was surprised by Gill and she kissed back, engaging in a fervent union of their two souls who are meeting each other at the mouth. The duel between their tongues lasted what seemed forever before they broke apart and smiled at each other. No words were necessary to say that they loved each other and they knew it. Soon, they were kissing again with zeal and each time they broke the spell, they were soon doing it again. It wasn't until five o'clock in the evening before they realized that they had a concert to go to. They quickly tried to sneak inside but they were met immediately in the kitchen by Teak and Kendall.

"There you two are." Kendall said. "What took you so long?"

Gill quickly thought up a lie. "We were just discussing tactics."

"Make-out tactics, more like." Teak said.

"What are you talking about?" Romani replied.

"We peeked in on you two inside the forge." Teak said. "I was wondering when that was going to happen."

"You peeked!?" Romani shouted.

"Well, we were looking for you, but when we found you, it turned into peeking, so it wasn't exactly a bad thing." Kendall said.

"Just don't hide it anymore." Teak told them. "Keeping secrets from us can only lead to discord."

"We won't." Gill said, taking Romani's hand into his.

The four of them then went to their separate rooms to change into fresh clothes for the concert in South Clocktown. Gill told them that he was planning a surprise entrance for himself and he needed the others for crowd control. Romani said that she would talk to the guards and she was out of the house. She was back in about thirty minutes and told Gill "They are expecting you before the first song, so you might want to make your entrance before seven."

"Good." Gill replied. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them that a friend of the Go Go's is planning to surprise them, so you have been okayed." she replied.

"You are half right." Gill said. "They are more like family."

"I suppose that is true." Romani said.

They waited until six before going. Romani, Teak, and Kendall went into the already forming crowd to help with crowd control. Gill waited on one of the roofs where he couldn't be seen. The Go Go's did their sound check ten minutes after they arrived and Gill used his powers to create a very light mist to signal the others that he was ready to go when they were. The crowd had already grown enormously when the others told the guards that they were ready. On cue, the guards started to clear a path for Gill. Gill then made the mist even heavier before making it into a full-blown fog just visible enough for people to see. Kendall produced the illusion of a flash of bright light just before Gill appeared at the end of the path. The fog shrouded him enough to make him unrecognizable as he somersaulted and then flipped towards the stage with fireworks shooting upwards as he went by, thanks to Kendall. He then spun around at high speeds only a master could produce to clear away the fog to let the Indigo-Go's know who has arrived.

Evan saw him and couldn't figure it out for a minute before he shouted his name.

"Gill!"

Lulu noticed that it was indeed the human boy raised by Japas.

"Gill." she said as she went to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek. "How have you been?"

"Getting better." he replied as he went up onto the stage.

"Glad to hear it." Lulu replied. Turning her attention to the crowd, she said into the microphone "Everyone, this is Gill. He will be our guest lead guitar player this evening."

Gill was shocked. He thought that Mikau's replacement for fifteen years now was going to star in the show this evening.

"He came down with the Zora flu a few days ago." Lulu told him in private. "Michael told us you were here in Clocktown, so we counted on you to show up this evening."

"How are you even playing?" Gill asked. "Did you find someone to replace…" Gill didn't want to say his name.

Someone stepped onto the stage and waved to Gill. It was Vivi, Lulu's oldest daughter.

"After Japas died, I told Mom that I had been secretly practicing bass for a while now and at first, she was disappointed that I wasn't content with singing, but after awhile, she and the band got together and decided that I would be playing bass from now on." she said. "After a couple of rehearsals, they decided that we were ready to play this evening."

"That's great, Vivi." Gill told her.

"Since you are doing lead this evening, I think that the most appropriate song to play is the one that you composed shortly before [i]that one thing[/i] happened." Lulu said, implying the banishment of Gill from Zora Hall.

"You mean you learned it?" Gill asked.

"We always learn each other's songs." Lulu replied. "You know that."

"We brought you fishbone guitar." Evan told him from his keyboard.

"Thanks." Gill said.

He got it from Evan and started to play it a bit. When he saw that he wasn't content with the sound, he tuned it a bit and gave it another go. Since it was playing perfectly now, he used one of the band's magic crystals to connect his guitar to the sound horns onstage. Testing it and seeing it was in good order, he took his place on the stage and said "Hey everyone!"

The crowd screamed for him with joy.

"Is everyone ready for some music!?"

The crowd screamed again.

"I have one of my own composition that I would like to play first." he told the crowd. "It has a new style to it that I like to call Zora Rock. The song is called Hurricane!"

The crowd looked at each other with confused looks.

Gill started off the band with a one-two-three-four and then played his opening riff. Vivi and Tijo then joined in with the bass guitar and the drums. Evan then did a piano roll and the song got to rolling.

LULU: Ooooooooo Yeah!

GILL: (Softly) Hurricane!

LULU: Winds are blowing!

GILL: (Less Softly, building to Moderate) Hurricane!

LULU: Lightning splits the skies!

GILL: (A little more Moderate building up to Semi-loud) Hurricane!

LULU: Waves crashing on the beach!

GILL: (Semi-loud to Loud) Hurricane!

(Pause before playing the normal beat.)

GILL: I'm mad as hell!

LULU & VIVI: (Background) He's mad as hell!

GILL: More than you can tell!

LULU & VIVI: More than you can tell!

GILL: You have taken everything that's dear to me!

LULU & VIVI: Dear to him!

GILL: You've brought this on yourself!

LULU & VIVI: You've brought this on yourself!

GILL: Revenge will be mine!

LULU & VIVI: Revenge will be his!

GILL: I have become the eye of the storm, I am a Hurricane!

(Evan does a nice little piano roll.)

LULU & VIVI: (Background) Ooo Ooo Ooo Ooo (continuing until their next part.)

GILL: (All males sing the first word.) Hurricane, high speed winds are blowing me all around! I'm taking it out on everyone about, You had better not get in my way!

LULU & VIVI: Oooooooooooooooo Oooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

GILL: (All males sing the first word.) Hurricane, crashing waves are dragging me down to hell! I got stabbed in the heart by nothing more than a dart, it is becoming a very dark day! (Grows softer on the last word. And Gill falls onstage.)

LULU & VIVI: (Prolonged) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Romani was told to come up onto the stage by some of the guards. She was handed a piece of paper and she was told to quickly memorize it. She did so and she walked onto the stage, with microphone in hand.

ROMANI: (Softly) Hurricane, please don't go, please no no no no no! You have to stay with me and you will always be the wind behind my wings!

LULU & VIVI: La la la la la la la la!

ROMANI: (Loudly) Hurricane, when you wake up I am going to kick your ass! If you want to live it, then you can't give in, I said WAKE UP!!!

(Gill slowly gets up and plays a soft guitar solo that becomes increasingly louder as he rises.)

GILL: (All males sing the first word. Softly.) Hurricane, I heard your call, babe! I'm back in the game, babe! I'm ready to save the day! (Drums in between words, getting Louder.) Hurricane, hurricane, hurricane, hurricane!

I'm mad as hell!

LULU, VIVI, and ROMANI (Romani singing separately.): He's mad as hell!

GILL: More than you can tell!

LULU, VIVI, and ROMANI: More than you can tell!

GILL: I have taken back what you have taken from me!

LULU, VIVI, and ROMANI: Taken from him!

GILL: You have brought this on yourself!

LULU, VIVI, and ROMANI: Brought this on yourself!

GILL: Revenge is mine!

LULU, VIVI, and ROMANI: Revenge is his!

GILL: (Slightly softer.) I am the eye of the storm, I am a Hurricane!

LULU, VIVI, and ROMANI: Hurricane!

GILL: (Louder.) I said I am the eye of the storm, I am a Hurricane, Hurricane!

As the song ended, the crowd was just silent. They all liked the music and each of them thought that they were the only people who liked it. It wasn't until Kendall started applauding that Teak joined in and the crowd soon followed. Gill and Romani beamed at the audience. Romani had been singing for a long time and had been complimented on it many times, but this was the first time she got so much recognition at once. Gill thought that he had gotten rusty by this time, but his guitar playing was still in top form.

"Great job, Gill." Vivi said.

"Aw, it was nothing." Gill replied. "And how did Romani get to come onstage?"

"Between my keyboard parts," Evan explained, "I signaled one of the guards and told him to have her memorize the lyrics and get up here. I saw how she looked at you when you were singing. She seems to really love you."

"Well, we did share a moment together before the concert." Gill told him.

"Enough of that now." Evan said. "We have more songs to play."

"Alright." Gill said.

He looked at Romani and told her, "You did great."

"Thanks." she said.

Romani hopped off of the stage, but stayed at the head of the crowd.

For the rest of the concert and to the dismay of the crowd, the Indigo-Go's played their normal brand of music, including their hit song, Ballad of the Wind Fish. At the end of their concert, they played their new song, Serenade of Water. Gill and Romani enjoyed that one especially. It seemed to convey the feelings that they had for each other. At the end of the song, they both had the impulse to kiss, so they did.

After the Indigo-Go's packed up their equipment, Gill and the others were invited to a VIP party that evening. Teak and Kendall happily declined, but Gill and Romani wanted to go for a little while, so they went with them to the Milk Bar and enjoyed a special after-concert performance. Gill sang a softer version of Hurricane with one of the band's acoustic guitars while Romani did backup. After a few glasses of milk, Gill and Romani decided to go home. They and the band exchanged their good-byes and they went out the door.

On the way back home, Romani asked Gill a question.

"How long do you think we will be able to last together?"

Gill knew she asked the question because she didn't want the relationship to affect the mission that they were set out to do.

"We'll make it to the end." Gill told her. "I know we will."

Romani smiled at his answer and gave him a peck on the cheek. They walked the rest of the way home hand in hand.


End file.
